86 

OPINIONS  OF  THE  PEESS. 

Montreal  is  greatly  obliged  to  the  gentleman  who  has  furnished  us  with  a  series 
of  statistical  articles.  *****  in  these  articles  he  shows  the  fallacy  which 
has  hitherto  led  us  astray ;  namely,  comparing  the  mortality  of  a  city  where  the 
birth-rate  is  high  with  other  cities  whore  it  is  low.  *****  To  make  this 
plain,  let  us  suppose  that  in  London  there  are  30  children  under  one  year  to  every 
1000  of  the  community,  whilst  in  Montreal  t.iere  are  60.  Take  then,  again,  for 
example,  the  death-rate  in  each  case  of  the  in'ants  under  one  year  at  16  per  cent, 
aad  of  all  the  rest  at  2  per  cent,  and  we  have : — 

MONTREAL. 


LONDON. 

970  at  2  per  cent 19.4 

30  at  16       "        4.8 

1000  24.2 


940  at  2  per  cent 18.8 

60  at  16       "         9.6 

1000  28.4 


The  whole  mortality  is  thus  increased  from  a  little  more  than  24  persons  per  1000 
to  28  per  1000,  though  thr  sanitary  state  in  the  two  places,  both  as  to  infants  and 
adults,  and  the  percent^  a  of  death  in  both  classes,  is  precisely  the  same!  But  great 
as  is  this  difference,  at  of  the  inlant  mortality  is  very  mucli  greater,— the  one 
being  0.48  while  the  v^iher  is  0.96  per  cent,  of  tlie  population,  or  exactly  double;  and 
yet,  as  before  stated,  the  healthiness  of  both  places  is  precisely  cqu&l.—  jyitness, 
2ith  Aug. 

The  article  will  be  read  in  England  witli  a  degree  of  interest  little  inferior  to  what 
it  will  excite  here.  For  the  present,  we  merely  call  attention  to  the  subject,  and 
hope  that  our  contemporaries,  who  have  had  so  much  to  say  about  the  tearfully 
high  rate  of  infant  mortality  in  Montreal,  will  give  an  equal  amount  of  publicity 
to  the  views  of  our  correspondent. — Daily  Xews,  2Lth  Oct. 

We  draw  the  attention  of  the  Sanitary  Association  and  Dr.  Carpenter,  to  an 
article  which  appeared  yesterday  on  the  fourth  page  of  the  Daily  Ktws,  and  which 
refutes,  in  the  most  crushing  manner,  several  of  the  statements  advanced  by  that 
learned  statician. — Noiiveau  Monde,  2Qth  Oct. 

We  find  in  one  of  the  late  numbers  of  the  DaUy  News,  an  important  anonymous 
article,  but  which  is,  nevertheless,  carefully  digested,  upon  the  subject  of  the 
sanitary  condition  ol  the  city.  It  is  a  rclutation  of  the  last  report  of  Dr.  Carpenter, 
whose  figures  and  statistics  it  shows  to  be  false  by  means  of  oflicial  proof.  We 
do  not  wish  to  mix  ourselves  up  with  this  discussion,  further  than  to  point  out  to 
Dr.  Carpenter  the  necessity  there  is  for  him  to  explain  himself,  and  to  advise  the 
Corporation  to  do  nothing  before  the  question  shall  have  been  settled.— X'Ordre, 
28rA  Oct. 

Vital  Statistics. — The  d.'ductions  from  the  mortality  returns  of  the  city  of 
Montreal  drawB  by  Dr.  Caipenter,  have  led  to  a  somewhat  important  contribution 
to  the  discussion  of  this  important  subject.  The  writer  is  a  gentleman  who  from  his 
knowledge  of  figures  and  the  attention  he  ha.<  given  for  some  years  to  the  conside- 
ration of  the  laws  which  regulate  the  growth  of  the  population  is  entitled  to  be 
heard  with  respect  and  his  statements  caretully  examined.  #♦**#*  jjg 
Fbows  that  Montreal,  instead  of  being  the  "plague  spot"  described  by  Dr.  Carpen- 
ter, in  reality  enjoys  l\i!ly  more  than  an  average  exemption  from  infant  mortality. 
*  *  *  Other  tables  show,  according  to  the  writer's  figures,  that  Montreal 
is  more  healthy  than  London  and  Glasgow,  and  much  more  healthy  than  Manches- 
ter. Should  these  statements  be  correct,  and  from  the  very  cursory  examination 
we  have  yet  been  able  to  make  of  them,  it  seems  difiicult  to  disprove  them,  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  they  should  be  known,  so  as  to  remove  the  charge  always  brought 
against  Montreal  in  this  respect.— //eraW,  'lith  October. 

Thb  Sanitary  Association. —  *  #  *  It  is  quite  impossible  to  convey  even 
a  faint  idea  ol  the  complete  destruction  of  the  whole  of  the  arguments  of  Dr.  Car- 
penter. The  castle  in  the  air  has  vanislied.  The  Sanitary  Association,  like  a  class 
of  beggars  who  extort  money  by  exhibiting  their  sores,  delighted  in  representing 
Montreal  as  a  polluted  Queen,  swollen  with  drink  and  debauchery,  and  covered 
with  all  manner  of  filth.  But  "  Experience"  has  torn  away  the  rags  with  which  Dr. 
Carpenter  had  clothed  her,  and  she  steps  forth  glowing  with  healtn,  young  and 

"  Beautiful  as  Euth  among  the  corn, 
Or  Bebekah  by  the  stoney  well." 

Star,  2»th  October. 
The  writer  of  the  paper  signed  "  Experience,"  which  we  published  some  days  ago 
showed  how  grossly  wrong  were  the  figures  ( n  which  Dr.  Carpenter  relied  in  those 
papers  of  his,  which  attracted  very  much  attention,  and  which  described  our  fair 
city  as  an  exceedingly  murderous  place  for  infants — one  of  the  most  destructive 
places,  in  fact,  under  the  sun.  It  is  satisfactory  to  £nd  that  it  is  not  so  bad  as  repre- 
sented, in  iact,  not  worse  but  better,  than  many  ot'aer  iX&CQi.— Gazette,  ^th  Nov. 


SOME  OF  THE 

HINDRANCES  AND  HELPS 


TO   THK 


ADVANCEMENT  OF  ACHK  I  LTl'RE. 


AN  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE 


3m  gork  ^hk  glnricultural  ^ocicfjr, 


AT  THE  TWENTY-NINTH  ANNUAL  FAIR,  AT  ELMIRA,  18G9, 

BY 

GEORGE  BUCKLAND, 

PKOFESSOU  OF  AUUICILTI  IJE,  UMVKHSITV  COI.UIGE, 

TOKOXTO,    AND    SECKKTAUY    OF    THE 

HOVRl>  OF  ACiUICrLTUKE 

OF  OXTAKIO. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY. 


ALBANY: 

CHARLES  VAN  BEMHUYSEN  &  SONS'  PRINT. 

1869. 


,  .-TT  -^    ■  T  "I.  t|^-:y>«,-»s;^l~r.ar-p(-«^>  '-irm^wj^-s  <yf  ~'*r^f**_  ^i^'  y^^t 


^HHv  npii  nil  viajiijii. 


ADDRESS. 


3/r.  President,  and  Members  of  the 

New  YorJc  State  Agrkultural  Society  : 

Gentlemen  : 

I  esteem  very  highly  the  honor  you  have 
done  me,  by  inviting  me  to  deliver  the  Address 
usually  given  on  the  anniversary  occasions  of 
your  extensive,  instructive  and  world-renowned 
exhibitions.  I  have  always  been  accustomed  to 
regard  your  Society  with  feelings  of  respect  and 
gratitude,  as  being  the  precursor  of  many  simi- 
lar institutions  on  this  wide  and  fertile  Conti- 
nent; and  I  shall  esteem  the  present  occasion  of 
addi<  "g  the  farmers,  mechanics,  and  citizens 
genet  ,  of  the  old  Empire  State,  among  the 
happiest  of  my  life,  if  I  can  say  anything  that 
shall,  in  however  humble  a  degree,  tend  to 
encourage  you  in  prosecuting  the  important  ob- 
jects contemplated  by  the  founders  of  this  Society 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 


4 

Orators  and  poets  of  all  ages  and  countries 
have  extolled  the  importance  of  Agriculture,  and 
sung  of  the  charms  and  beauties  of  rural  life.  As 
the  first  want  of  man  is  food,  and  the  only  supply 
being  the  produce  of  the  soil,  the  cultivation  of 
the  earth  and  the  keeping  of  tlocks  and  herds 
must  have  been  coeval  with  the  first  fixed  forms 
of  human  society,  and  the  history  of  this  neces- 
sary art  may  be  justly  regarded  as  the  history  of 
civilization  itself.  Not  only  do  we  depend  on 
the  skill  and  industry  of  the  husbandman  for  the 
staff  of  life, — "our  daily  bread," — l)ut  also,  in  a 
great  measure,  for  the  raw  material,  as  it  is 
termed,  which  the  manufacturing  and  ornamental 
arts  of  an  ever-advancing  civilization  work  up 
into  the  necessaries  jind  adornments  of  social  and 
domestic  life. 

If,  therefore,  agriculture  be  so  ancient  and 
indispensable,  not  only  to  the  general  well-being 
of  society,  but  to  the  very  physical  existence  of 
man,  removed  but  a  degree  from  the  savage  state, 
the  question  naturally  arises  in  every  reflective 
mind,  acquainted  with  its  general  or  particular 
history,  How  is  it  that  this  most  valuable  art  has 
^  not  kept  pace  with  the  other  industries  of  life, 
but  has  generally  been  found  lagging  behind,  and 
frequently  exhibiting  symptoms  of  a  feeble  and 


6 

sickly  existence  ?  There  have  been  hiws  and 
customs  in  most  of  the  countries  of  the  ohl  world, 
affecting  the  acquisition,  distribution,  and  nuni- 
ageme!it  of  hmded  property,  that  have  done  much* 
and  unhappily  in  some  cases  yet  continue,  to 
impede  the  progress  of  a  national  agriculture; 
causes  from  which  we,  of  the  new  world,  are  in 
great  measure,  or  altogether,  free.  But  the  rpies- 
tion  naturally  occurs,  whether,  under  favorable 
circumstances,  there  is  anything  in  the  nature 
of  agricultural  pursuits,  per  se,  that  tends  to  ren- 
der its  improvement  and  progress  comparatively 
slow  ?     I  think  there  is. 

In  the  first  place,  in  countries  of  the  temper- 
ate zone,  at  least,  it  requires  a  whole  year  for  the 
farmer  to  make  a  single  experiment,  and,  as  the 
art  advances,  much  longer  periods,  ao  rotations 
of  four,  seven,  or  more  years  are  involved,  before 
safe  conclusions  can  be  drawn  from  well  estab- 
lished data.  If  to  this  be  added  the  differences 
of  soil,  even  on  the  same  farti^,  the  variable  char- 
acter of  the  seasons,  and  the  many  substances 
now  emj^loyed  as  manures,  it  will  be  at  once 
apparent  that  agricultural  experiments  are,  in 
their  very  nature,  highly  complicated,  and  the 
number  that  comes  within  the  experience  of  the 
busiest    and    longest    life,    must    be    necessarily 


6 

restricted.  ]ii  most  other  industrial  arts,  experi- 
ments may  be  almost  indefinitely  multiplied 
within  ordinary  limits  of  time,  and  suljjeeted  to 
a  series  of  rigid  corrections,  so  that  reliable 
results  may,  in  most  cases,  be  readily  obtained. 

Again  :  The  isolated  character  of  the  farmer's 
life  must  necessari'  tend,  in  some  measure,  to 
retard  the  prop'  of  his  art,  as  compared  with 
those  carried  on  in  the  populous  centres  of  human 
industry.  In  cities  and  towns,  merchants  and 
manufacturers  come  in  daily  contact  with  one 
another  ;  inquiry  hence  becomes  stimulated,  infor- 
mation rapidly  and  widely  diffused,  experiences 
compared ;  and  whatever  may  occur  to  affect  the 
interests  of  any  particular  branch  of  industry, 
those  who  pursue  it  can  meet  without  delay,  and 
take  counsel  in  regard  to  their  common  welfare. 
Farmers,  from  the  nature  of  their  pursuits,  even 
in  this  wonderful  age  of  cheap  and  rapid  inter- 
communication, are  necessarily  cut  off,  more  or 
less,  from  each  other,  and  can  only  come  together 
at  infrequent  intervals.  It  is  noteworthy  to  re- 
mark how  comparatively  rapid  has  been  improve- 
ment in  agriculture,  both  in  the  old  world  and 
the  new,  since  the  general  introduction  of  the 
railway,  which,  with  other  agencies,  has  been  a 
chief  means  of  quickening  the  agiicultural  mind. 


not  merely  by  cheapeniiifi;  transit,  and  in  some 
instances  creating  new  markets,  but  ebielly  by 
enabling  the  tillers  of  the  soil  to  extend  the 
sphere  of  their  ojjservations,  of  witnessing  and 
comparing  different  tsystems  of  culture,  and  of 
obtaining  valuable  information  of  a  reliable  char- 
acter from  each  other's  observations  and  dilTerent 
modes  of  practice.  I  can  remember  the  time 
when  large  numbers  of  English  farmers  seldom 
went  beyond  the  boundary  of  their  own  county  ; 
some  even  hardly  passed  the  limits  of  their  own 
or  adjoining  parish.  Wliat  a  change  has  been 
effected  since  the  introduction  of  the  railway ! 
Farmers  may  now  be  seen  traveling  hundreds 
of  miles  to  an  Exhibition,  or  in  company  as  mem- 
bers of  a  Club,  paying  periodic  visits  to  insjiect 
the  practices  of  distinguished  individuals  of  their 
craft  in  different  parts  of  the  countr3^  A  little 
perambulating  of  this  sort  has  a  most  salutary 
effect  in  enlarging  the  farmer's  circle  of  obser- 
vation, enabling  him  to  gain  new  ideas,  to  bioak 
loose  from  traditional  prejudices,  and  to  improve 
his  practice  by  adapting  it  to  the  new  lights 
which  science  and  enlarged  experience  throw 
across  his  path. 

Among  the  causes  that  have  retarded  the  pro- 
gress of  husbandry  may  be  mentioned  the  absence 


8 

ofji  ho.'ilthy  and  efficient  aj^ri cultural  literature, 
it  is  true,  that  a  number  ul  treatises  on  this 
ancient  Jind  in(lis])ensal>le  art  were  written  by 
distinguished  men  belon«^in;^  to  the  two  most  cul- 
tivated nations  ol' anti(|uity — the  Greeks  and  the 
Itonians — and  in  such  of  their  works  or  fragments 
as  have  come  down  to  us,  we  find  interspersed 
not  a  little  that  is  excellent  and  practical,  from 
which  we  might  profit  in  the  present  day.  These 
writings,  however,  and  even  those  of  a  much  later 
date,  contain,  as  Lord  Bacon  said,  ^^  no  principles;^ 
that  is,  they  are,  notwithstanding  the  many  valu- 
able and  practical  directions  which  they  contain, 
essentially  empirical.  Indeed,  it  could  not  pos- 
sibly have  been  otherwise,  as  agriculture  was 
incapable  of  being  reduced  to  anything  approach- 
ing the  condition  of  a  scien^je,  till  chemistry  and 
and  physiology,  at  least,  assumed  a  definite  form  ; 
a  result  that  may  be  said  to  be  quite  recent. 
Going  back  to  the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, when  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  delivered  his 
celebrated  lectures  on  agricultural  chemistry  to 
the  Board  of  Agriculture  in  England,  and  to  the 
report  of  Baron  Liebig.,  on  the  same  subject,  to 
the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,  some  thirty  years  ago,  w^e  discover  the 
cause  of  the  mighty  impulse   that  has  in  these 


days  been  given  to  more  earnest  scientific  re- 
search, and  wider  and  deepe  'nvestigatioiis,  so 
as  to  put  not  only  the  la])oratory,  but  also  the 
printing  press  into  a  moi-e  active  and  harmonious 
operation.  In  all  civilized  countries  science,  of 
late,  has  more  or  less  been  brought  to  bear  on  the 
practice  of  agriculture  with  beneficial  results, 
and  the  Reports  and  Transactions  of  Agricultural 
Societies  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  to- 
gether with  a  legion  of  periodical  journals  in  this 
great  interest,  unmistakably  indicate  the  present 
healthy  state  of  progress,  the  future  limits  of 
which  it  is  quite  impossible  to  define.  I  may 
further  observe,  that  America  occupies  a  foremost 
place  in  agricultural  literature,  as  the  valuable 
Reports  and  Transactions  of  this  and  other  Socie- 
ties, Avith  the  donuments  that  are  annually  issued 
by  the  Federal  "and  State  governments,  amply 
testify.  Your  numerous  weekly  and  monthly 
periodicals,  embracing  such  pursuits,  works 
mostlj',  I  believe,  of  private  enterprise,  esti- 
mated by  their  price,  qujility  and  circulation, 
stand  unquestionably  ahead  of  any  other  similar 
publications  in  the  world.  And  here  I  shall  be 
only  doing  a  simple  act  of  justice  by  making  a 
passing  reference  to  the  last  Report  published  by 
your  Society.     The  "getting  up,"  as  it  is  tech- 


10 

iiically  termed ;  its  numerous  and  beautifully 
executed  illustrations;  the  se.ientific  and  prac- 
tical papers  on  some  of  the  most  important  and 
difficult  subjects  that  come  within  the  range  of 
modern  research,  brought  down  to  the  present 
state  of  knowledge,  would  be  an  honor  to  any 
Society,  older  and  wealthier  than  your  own. 
Instead,  then,  of  croaking  and  finding  fault  on 
account  of  the  slow  progress  of  our  art,  instances 
such  as  these  should  inspire  us  with  glowing 
hopes  for  the  future. 

It  has  been  remarked  that,  as  a  general  rule, 
whatever  is  must  valuable  and  enduring  is  of 
slow  and  2:)rogressive  development.  The  globe 
we  live  on — at  least  its  crust — appears  to  have 
been  subjected  to  physical  changes  through  untold 
and  even  unimagined  periods  of  duration.  Its 
vegetable  j)roductions,  the  trees  of  our  own  forests, 
for  instance, — some  will  endure  for  centuries  ere 
they  become  finally  resolved  into  the  mineral 
and  organic  constituents  of  which  they  are  com- 
posed. Our  Christian  civilizcftion  has  a  most 
interesting  and  instructive  history  to  tell ;  its 
numerous  vicissitudes,  sometimes  apparently  sta- 
tionary and  even  retrograding,  at  others  marked 
by  decided  if  not  rapid  j^rogress;  and  yet  it  has 
taken  nearly  nineteen  centuries  to  reach  its  pre- 


11 

sent  imperfect  condition.  So,  again,  as  regards 
civil  government.  What  time,  talent,  states- 
manship and  philanthropy  have  been  expended 
in  redncing  to  a  practical  form  the  best  way  of 
rnling  mankind,  so  as  to  o])tain  the  legitimate 
object  of  all  sovmd  legislation,  '■  the  greatest  hap- 
piness of  the  greatest  number."  In  these  mat- 
ters our  knowledge  has  to  be  corrected  and  en- 
larged by  time  and  experience ;  and  notwith- 
standing the  progress,  particjlarly  of  late,  that 
has  marked  the  history  of  many  nations,  who  has 
the  temerity  to  affirm  of  any  one  of  t  lie  in,  that 
it  has  reached  the  nc  vlus  ultra  of  perfection  ?  So 
it  may  be  that  the  slow  advance  of  agriculture 
during  the  past  centuries  is  in  accordance  with  a  'I 
principle  of  nature,  of  a  much  wider  application 
th.'«,n  is  geiicrally  perceived. 

Whatever  causes  may  have  contributed  to  im- 
pede the  onward  march  of  agriculture,  some  more  ? 
diHiciilt  to  modify  or  remove  than  others,  I  have 
long  felt  a  strong  conviction  that  the  most  formi-  *1 
dable  obstacle  to  the  general  advancomcnt  of  the 
art  in  all  ages  and  countries  has  been,  and  unfor- 
tunately still  is,  the  low^  estimation  in  which  it 
is  held,  not  only  by  communities,  but  also  by  the 
great  mass  of  its  followers  themselves; — by  this 
1  mean,  the  lllile  acquisition  of  an  intellectual 


12 

character  which  has  been  regarded  necessary  to 
a  farmer.  I  believe,  and  rejoice  in  the  convic- 
tion, that  a  new  era  is  commencing,  or  rather  has 
already  commenced  in  earnestness,  in  several 
countries  of  the  Eastern  hemisphere,  and  that  to 
us  here  of  the  West,  esp^'cially,  a  high  and  import- 
ant trust  has  been  committed,  which,  if  faithfully 
executed,  will  be  pregnant  with  untold  blessings 
to  all  coming  generations.  To  thoughtful  minds 
the  truth  is  beginning  everywhere  to  be  more  or 
less  distinctly  recognized,  that  it  is  not  every 
man  can,  by  the  old  routine  of  mere  muscular 
toil,  be  made  a  prosperous  and  improving  farmer, 
but  that  a  good  general  education  in  the  first 
place,  supplemented  by  special  study  and  train- 
ing, with  the  acquisition  of  sound  business  habits, 
are  the  essential  elements  of  success.  The  fact 
is,  that  farming,  intelligently  pursued,  is  quite 
as  much  an  affair  of  the  mind  as  of  the  body. 
Indeed,  muscular  force,  as  is  well  known  in  all 
other  matters,  spends  itself  for  naught  when  not 
directed  by  mental  power;  and  most  assuredly 
the  practice  of  husbandry  is  no  exception  to  this 
great,  general  law ;  and  he  who  successfully 
labors  to  base  the  art  of  culture  on  the  facts  and 
principles  of  science,  dissipates  the  darkness  and 
uncertainties  of  empiricism,  and  becomes,  in  the 


13 

highest  sense,  the  improver  and  henefactor  of  his 
race.  Let  us  k)ok  at  this  matter  for  a  few  min- 
utes in  a  familiar  manner.  Let  us  ask  ourselves 
the  question,  What  is  Agriculture.^  and  try  to 
answer  it  as  brief!}'  and  accurately  as  we  can. 
Agriculture,  it  may  be  said,  is  the  art  of  cultivat- 
ing the  soil  for  raising  crops  for  the  sustentation 
of  man  and  animals.  Now,  who  that  reflects  on 
what  is  involved  in  this  short  answer,  can  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  any  man,  provided  he  has 
powerful  muscles,  can  make  a  farmer  ? 

The  first  thing  that  might  strike  the  attention 
of  a  reflecting  person,  in  the  above  definition,  is 
the  little  word  "50//;"  a  term  expressing  not  a 
simple,  but  an  extremely  complicated  substance, 
comprising  a  variety  of  materials,  in  different 
chemical  and  mechanical  conditions.  In  travel- 
ing through  any  considerable  area  of  country, 
you  pass  over  a  diversified  surface,  composed  of 
dift'erent  soils,  from  the  disintegration  and  com- 
mingling of  the  various  underlying  rocks,  differ- 
ing in  some  instances  very  widely  from  each 
other  in  chemical  composition,  and  mechanical 
and  hygrometric  properties.  To  acquire  what 
may  be  termed  only  a  practical  knowledge  of 
soils,  a  life  of  observation  and  farm-experience  is 
required  ;  and  if  we  desire  a  minute  and  accurate 


14 

acquaintance  with  particulars,  on  which  much  of 
success  or  loss  in  practice  may  depend,  we  are 
compelled  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  chemist  and 
the  geologist.  The  soil  is  a  very  complex  thing, 
susceptible  at  the  hands  of  man  of  great  improve- 
ment, or,  as  is  unhappily  sometimes  the  case,  of 
great  deterioration ;  and  no  cultivator,  however 
advanced  his  practice,  or  minute  and  extensive 
his  observation,  can  obtain  the  maximum  of  profit 
and  sustain  the  fertility  of  his  land,  without  an 
acquaintance  with  those  facts  and  laws,  in  rela- 
tion thereto,  which  science  has  investigated  and 
can  alone  explain. 

Again  :  The  soil,  air,  and  water  contain  all  the 
constituents  which  the  farmer  by  means  of  culti' 
vation  elaborates  into  crops,  and  it  is  from  the 
former  alone  that  they  obtain  their  mineral  or 
inorganic  portion.  Now  mark  what  is  implied 
by  this  single  word,  cultivation.  It  involves,  of 
course,  the  use  of  tools,  implements  and  ma- 
chines, the  efficiency  of'which  mainly  depends 
on  tlieir  mechanical  adaptation  to  the  various 
kinds  of  soils,  as  regards  texture,  density,  and 
relation  to  warmth  and  moisture,  and  also  to 
the  habits  and  special  requirements  of  different 
crops.  In  addressing  an  American  audience,  a 
people  so  distinguished  for  fertility  of  invention, 


15 

I  iiGcd  only  say,  that  between  implements  and 
machines  constructed  on  tlie  most  ai)|)roved  prin- 
ciples of  modern  mechanics,  and  successful  and 
profitable  farming,  there  is  an  intimate  and  indis- 
soluble connection.  Take  only  that  important 
and  primitive  symbol  of  husbandry,  the  plough, 
and  without  going  back  to  Egypt,  or  the  ancient 
Romans,  compare,  or  rather  contrast  the  imple- 
ments that  were  in  general  use  in  Europe  and  on 
this  Continent  less  than  fifty  years  ago,  with 
those  of  the  present  time,  and  you  perceive  at 
once  how  much  depends  upon  the  employment  of 
siiCh  implements  as  are  in  their  form  and  con- 
struction in  accordance  with  the  laws  and  well- 
ascertained  formulas  of  mechanical  philosophy. 

Further :  The  farmer  cultivates  the  soil  for  the 
exclusive  purpose,  in  the  first  instance,  of  rais- 
ing crops ;  in  other  words,  such  vegetable  pro- 
ductions as  are  best  suited  to  soil,  climate  and 
markets.  He  ascends  from  the  dead  mineral 
earth  to  the  living  organized  plant.  A  tiny  seed 
is  deposited  in  the  earth,  and  under  the  influence 
of  waimth  and  moisture  germinates,  assimilating 
materials  from  both  the  air  and  soil  in  the  pro- 
gress of  growth,  and  after  passing  through  a  won- 
derful cycle  of  changes,  reaches  the  condition  of 
a  perfect  plant,  ripens  its  seed,  and  thus  secures 


10 

the  perpetuity  of  its  specie  Here  he  is  brought 
directly  in  connection  with  the  higher  teachings 
of  Chemistry  and  Vegetable  Physiology. 

The  farmer  has  yet  a  further  and  higher  ob- 
ject:  he  raises  plants  for  the  sustentation  of  ani- 
mals. This  is  the  great  and  ultimate  end  of  all 
agricultural  operations.  What  a  beautiful  view 
is  here  opened  by  the  ordinary  routine  of  the 
farmer's  daily  life,  of  the  intimate  connection 
between  what  are  termed  the  three  great  king- 
doms of  Nature !  The  animal  could  not  exist 
without  the  vegetable,  which  in  its  turn  depends 
upon  tine  mineral.  Thus  he  ascends  from  the 
dead  earth  to  the  living  plant,  on  which  is  nour- 
ished the  living,  moving  and  s<  ntient  animal ! 
In  the  breeding,  feeding  and  general  management 
of  his  stock,  the  manner  in  which  these  opera- 
tions are  conducted  may  be  regarded  as  an  unerr- 
ing index  of  the  state  and  progress  of  agricul- 
ture ;  and  much  of  the  success  of  the  practical 
man  will  depend  on  the  extent  and  correctness 
of  his  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  Zoology  and 
Animal  Physiology. 

Now,  will  it  be  maintained  that  agriculture  is 
so  simple  a  thing  that  any  youth,  however  feeble 
his  mind  and  sluggish  his  mental  habits,  can 
readily  be  made  into  a  farmer,  and  that  to  engage 


17 

in  tlii.s  pursuit,  but  little  special  inforiuiition  or 
training  is  needed,  hut  simply  a  large  expendi- 
ture of  muscular  force  in  accordance  with  a  certain 
time-honored  routine  ?  This,  unhappily,  has  been 
the  prevalent  feeling  of  the  past,  and  it  is  still  too 
much  so  at  present;  and  I  repeat,  that  it  is  to 
this  low  and  fallacious  estimate  of  the  nature  of 
agriculture  and  the  qualifications  of  its  pursuers, 
that  much  of  its  complained-of  slow  progress  is 
attributable.  We  must  rouse  ourselves  so  as  to 
take  higher  and  wider  views  of  this  great  art, 
which,  instead  of  being  the  simplest,  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  and  complex,  as  it  is  unquestionably 
the  most  valuable,  of  the  various  industries  of  this 
brief  and  busy  life. 

I  am  aware  that  many  fallacies  have  been  com- 
mitted by  persons  of  sanguine  temperament, 
earnestly  desirous  of  correcting  this  low  and 
degrading  estimate  of  agricultural  pursuits,  by 
too  strictly  comparing  its  actual  progress  with 
that  of  some  other  arts.  In  order  that  compari- 
sons may  not  be  invidious,  it  is  necessary  they 
should  be  correct.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  marvelous  progress  made  during  the 
present  century,  in  the  cheapness  and  increased 
productions  of  textile  manufactures,  bleaching, 
dyeing,  calico  printing,  etc.,  is  in  great  measure 


18 

due  to  the  application  of  inorganic  chemistry  and 
iin])rove(l  machinery;  tlie  former  science  having 
fittained  to  extraordinary  development  and  exact- 
itude during  the  past  fifty  years.  The  aid  which 
chemistry  renders  the  farmer,  relates  chiefly  to 
the  nutrition  and  growth  of  vegetable  and  animal 
life,  termed  organic,  a  department  of  the  science 
having  as  yet  but  a  very  brief  histor3^  and  the 
pursuit  of  which  is  beset  with  many  and  peculiar 
difficulties,  and  is  subjected  to  rapid  changes  as 
in  the  progress  of  discovery,  past  errors  become 
corrected  and  new  truths  established.  The  aian- 
ufacturer,  ])y  availing  himself  of  the  certain  aids 
of  a  more  simple  and  advanced  department  of 
chemistry,  and  operating  exclusively  on  dead 
matter,  under  well-defined  physical  conditions  of 
temperature,  light,  moisture,  etc.,  is  placed  in  a 
position  almost  absolutely  to  command  whatever 
results  may  be  desired.  How  different  is  it  in 
these  respects  with  the  farmer,  whose  operations 
are  exposed  to  and  influenced  by  the  uncertainty 
and  variations  of  the  weather,  the  changes  in  the 
nature  of  soils,  often  within  very  limited  areas, 
and  the  complicated  workings  of  that  wonderful 
and  mysterious  force  denominated  life  !  In  view, 
then,  of  these  simple  facts  of  the  case,  it  would 
obviously  be  unreasonable,  even  under  the  most 


10 

favorable  conditions,  to  expect  a<;riculture  to  ad- 
vance with  the  rapid  speed  that  has  of  late  years 
characterized  several  of  the  nianufacturini£  arts. 
The  apparent  anomaly,  however,  only  stren<^tli- 
ensand  illustrates  what  I  am  desirous  of  imi)ress- 
ing  on  this  large  and  intelligent  audience, —  the 
necessity  and  advantage  o(  connecting  practice  with 
science.  The  principles  of  the  latter  are  as  appli- 
cable to  the  farm  as  they  are  to  the  manufiictory, 
and  the  many  and  peculiar  difficulties  which  at 
present  beset  the  pursuits  of  farmers  in  relation 
to  the  higher  teachings  and  applications  of  sci- 
ence, should  induce  them  more  enrnestlv  than 
ever  to  devote  their  lives  to  inquiry,  patient 
observation  and  unMtering  perseverance,  wel- 
coming with  gratitude  every  ray  of  light  Avhich 
science  may  throw  across  their  path,  in  the  full 
assurance  that,  by  degrees,  present  anomalies  and 
perplexities  of  practice  will  be  explained,  and 
this  noble  art  removed  in  great  measure,  if  not 
entirely,  out  of  the  dark  recesses  of  empiricism, 
into  the  cheering  and  health-inspiring  light  of  a 
progressive  science. 

Having  thus  spoken  of  the  connection  between 
science  and  agriculture,  and  of  the  valuable  aid 
the  former  has  of  late  years  rendered  the  latter, 
with  a  prospect  of  still  greater  benefits  in  time 


20 

to  come,  1  wish  to  guard  myself  iigainst  being 
imderstood  as  conntenjincing  the  erroneous  and 
im])racticahle  idea  that  an  intelligent  and  im})rov- 
ing  farmer  must,  in  the  professional  sense  of  the 
term,  be  "a  man  of  science."  Such  an  opinion 
this  audience  need  not  to  be  told  is  quite  Utopian. 
The  })rogress  of  the  natural  and  ex2)erimental 
sciences  of  the  present  day  is  so  marvelously 
great  that  it  requires  the  energies  of  a  life  to 
keeji  pace  Avith  almost  any  one  of  them.  If 
youths,  intended  for  farming,  as  a  means  of  ob- 
taining a  livelihood,  were  placed  in  the  labora- 
tory to  acquire  and  master  the  \Qvy  delicate  art 
of  manipulation  in  the  higher  branches  of  organ- 
ic analysis,  with  a  view  of  becoming  accomplished 
chemists,  the  time  occupied  in  such  studies  and 
pursuits  must  preclude  them  from  acquiring  that 
practical  knowledge  and  those  business  h.ibits, 
apart  from  which  farming  must,  commercially 
at  least,  prove  a  disastrous  failure.  What  is 
really  needed,  and  what  is,  I  think,  practicable, 
is  so  to  instruct  our  3'()uth  in  the  principles  of 
science,  as  to  enable  them  to  appreciate  the 
results  obtained  by  scientific  men,  and  advan- 
tageously co-operate  with  them  in  effecting 
practical  improvements.  The  amount  of  scien- 
tific knoAvledge  which  such  a  view  assumes  is  no 


21 

conteiiii)til)le  inudicuin,  and  would  dcuiand  vours 
of  patient  study  and  careful  observation  of  an 
active  business  life  to  ac(juire.  The  «;reat  ({ues- 
tion  is,  bow,  in  the  present  state  of  society  and 
its  educational  ai)pliances,  a  knowledj;e  of  scien- 
tific and  practical  agriculture  can  be  best  ob- 
tained ? 

It  has  often  occurred  to  nie  that  in  this,  as  in 
most  other  matters,  the  best  plan  is  to  begin  at 
tlie  beginning,  by  imparting  a  knowledge  to  the 
pupils  of  common  country  schools  of  the  founda- 
tion principles  of  good  husbandry.  The  extent 
of  the  information  that  could  thus  be  given  would 
necessarily  be  restricted,  but  it  need  not  on  that 
account  be  otherwise  than  sound  and  practical. 
We  have  already  several  little  text-books  suited 
for  such  a  purpose,  and  teachers  without  the  ex- 
penditure of  much  time  and  money,  might  pre- 
pare themselves  for  the  work,  which  would  cer- 
tainly tend  to  raise  their  professional  status  in 
the  country,  by  increasing  their  respect  and 
usefulness.  The  matter  contained  in  Johnston! s 
Catechism  of  Agricultura'  Chemistry  and  Geology, 
and  Stephens  Catechism  of  Practical  Agriculture, 
modified  and  adapted  to  American  wants,  would, 
if  carefully  gone  through  in  a  country  school, 
impart  a  considerable  amount  of  sound  and  use- 


*rf  art 

fill  instruction,  Jind  hiy  a  linn  Inundation  lor 
whatever  subsequent  additions  the  pupils  nii^ht 
accpiire  to  erect  thereon.  It  would  he  a  pleasing 
and  instructive^  ohject  to  have  country  schools 
provided  with  ^^ardens  tor  experimental  and  illus- 
trative ])urpos(!s.  Such  adjuncts  would  torni 
valuable  auxiliaries  of  teachinii:,  and  also  tend  to 
refine  the  tasto  and  enlarge  the  minds  of  the 
pupils.  A  school  house,  instead  of  being,  as  is 
even  yet  too  much  the  case  in  old  and  wx'althy 
districts,  bald  and  uninviting  in  appearance,  if 
not  positively  repulsive,  sh(mld  be  expressive 
and  in  harmony  with  its  primary  objects,  both  in 
its  exterior  and  interior  features,  and  a  little  or- 
namental planting  and  fencing  would,  as  in  the 
cases  of  churches  and  other  buildings,  public  and 
private,  very  much  improve  the  landscape  of  the 
country  and  add  a  new  charm  to  rural  life. 

Agricultural  Colleges    have,  of  late  years,  at- 
tracted no  inconsiderable   amount  of  attention, 
;     both  in  Europe  and  America,  and   a  number  of 

r 

\  experiments  have  been  made  with  very  varying 
degrees  of  success.  The  immense  grants  of  the 
public  lands  made  a  few  years  ago  by  the  Federal 
;  government  for  the  establishment  of  agricultural 
I  colleges,  and  the  prompt  action  taken  by  many 
^     of  the  State  Legislatures  to  reduce  the  noble  pro- 


23 

ject  to  pr.actico,  redound  to  the  lionor  jiud  iiitel- 
li«'eiice  of  this  ^reat  nation.  An  old  and  di>tin- 
guislied  mcniher  of  this  Society  has  iunuortalized 
his  name,  and  dune  iniperishahle  honor  to  his 
country  by  the  ])rincely  niunificence  wliiel: 
founded  the  Corndl  University,  \\\  this  State;  jin 
institution  which  recognizes  the  true  dignity  of 
luinuin  hibor,  both  of  the  mind  and  of  the  hands, 
and  strives  in  a  natural  and  beneficent  manner 
to  combine  both  in  harmonious  rehition.  Every 
true  friend  of  his  country  and  race  must  earnestly 
desire  that  tbis  and  similar  instiiutions  may 
realize  the  aspirations  of  their  founders  and  pro- 
moters, and  impart  untold  blessings  to  posterity. 
It  would  be  impracticable  to  lay  down,  in  all 
cases,  absolute  rules  for  teaching  agriculture, 
theoretical  or  pr.actical,  in  public  institutions,  as 
mucli  must  depend  on  the  varying  circumstances 
of  each  country  or  State.  If  elementary  instruc- 
tion were  generally  given  in  primary  schools  on 
the  leading  principles  of  this  art,  a  desire,  no 
doubt,  would  be  increased,  in  many  instances,  for 
more  extensive  and  minute  information,  which 
the  higher  order  of  colleges  only  could  impart. 
When  it  is  found  impracticable  to  establish  and 
sustain  a  pure  and  independent  agricultural  col- 
lege   the    object   might,   to  a  great   extent,   be 


24 

accomplished  by  incorporating  an  Agricultural 
Department  with  already  existing  educational 
institutions,  possessing  a  staff  of  teachers  in  the 
various  branches  usually  comprised  in  a  Univer- 
sity course  of  instruction.  A  farm  of  more  or 
less  extent  for  experimental  and  illustrative  pur- 
poses would  seem  to  be  a  necessary  appendage, 
where  the  teaching  of  the  class  room  might  re- 
ceive a  practical  exemplification  in  the  field  or 
the  garden.  And  here  I  may  observe  that  agri- 
culture, or  the  other  industrial  arts,  cannot  be 
thoroughly  learnt  in  colleges  or  schools  however 
well  adapted  they  may  be  for  teacliing  tlieir  sci- 
entific principles;  the  farm  and  the  workshop 
are  the  only  places  where  a  practical  knowledge, 
constituting  an  accomplished  workman,  can  be 
obtained.  It  is  most  desirable  that  youths,  in- 
tended for  agriculture  as  a  pursuit,  should  be 
regularly  trained  to  farm  labor,  and  in  all  young 
countries  especially,  such  a  condition  is  a  neces- 
sity. Work,  both  of  the  head  and  hands,  consti- 
tutes the  basis  of  every  sound  sjstem  of  agricul- 
tural education.  And  after  all,  perhaps,  to  make 
a  thorough  and  accomplished  agriculturist,  one 
whose  acquirements  will  enable  him  to  extend 
the  bounds  of  knowledge,  and  enable  him  to  adapt 
hiujself  to  the  varying  circumstances  and  condi- 


9; 


tioiis  of  practical  life,  he  must  study  iu  more 
than  one  school,  and  become  familiar  with  more 
than  one  system  of  instruction.  The  facts  and 
laws  of  science  he  can  leani  in  the  college,  and 
observe  their  application  to  practice  on  the 
experimental  grounds;  but  he  will  further  re- 
quire a  wider  circle  of  observation  only  to  be 
acquired  by  travel,  and  thus  make  himself  person- 
ally acquainted  with  the  different  systems  of 
management  pursued  ])y  distinguished  cultivators 
and  breeders  in  various  localities  or  countries. 

Among  the  most  efficient  means  of  advancing 
the  agricultural  and  cognate  arts,  I  feel  no  hesi- 
tation in  placing  Societies,  such  as  the  one  whose 
annual  exhibition  many  thousands  will  have  wit- 
nessed on  tliese  grounds  during  the  present  week. 
Happily,  Societies  of  this  nature  have  been 
formed  in  most  civilized  countries,  and  their  suc- 
cess, upon  the  whvde,  must  be  considered  decid- 
edly encouraging.  Numbers,  no  doubt,  attend  on 
these  occasions  for  mere  holiday  pleasure,  and 
probal)ly  carry  away  but  little  information  that 
will  benelit  either  themselves  or  others.  It  is  to 
be  reart'tted  that  the  oreat  essential  objects  and 
functions  of  these  shows  are  not  more  clearly 
and  generally  understood,  and  their  teaching- 
power  more  deeply  and  widely  felt.     To  see  and 


26 

to  observe  are  too  frequently  very  different 
things.  It  is  the  facilities  given  to  observation, 
comparing  one  thing  with  another,  and  the  draw- 
ing of  sound  practical  conclusions  from  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  well-observed  facts,  that  give  to 
occasions  like  this  their  principal  means  of  use- 
fulness. The  management  of  these  shows,  as 
they  increase  in  size  and  complexity,  requires 
continued  modification,  and  is  yet  susceptible  in 
all  instances  of  improvement.  I  observe  that 
you  have  adopted  the  plan  of  entering  articles 
some  weeks  previous  to  the  holding  of  the  show, 
a  practice  which  we  in  Canada  (Ontario)  have 
pursued  with  much  satisfaction  for  several  years. 
Now,  we  have  only  to  take  a  step  or  two  further; 
so  to  limit  the  period  for  taking  entries,  and  make 
it  absolute,  that  sufficient  time  may  be  afforded 
for  compiling  a  complete  classified  catalogue  or 
catalogues,  and  providing  in  the  show-yard  and 
its  buildings,  "  a  place  for  every  thing,  and  have 
everything  in  its  place."  To  this  state  of  ad- 
vancement most  of  i^lie  great  National  Societies 
of  Europe  have  already  brought  their  exhibitions, 
and  we  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  would  greatly 
consult  the  convenience  and  information  of  visit- 
ors, and  materially  enhance  the  interest  and 
increase  the  usefulness  of  our  exhibitions  by  fol- 


21 

lowing,  as  close  and  rapidly  as  circumstances 
admit,  so  good  an  example.  The  management 
of  the  Royal  English  Society's  show,  last  year, 
at  Leicester — the  ease  and  harmony  of  its  work- 
ing— was  to  me  a  marvelous  phenomenon.  The 
grand  secret  of  all  this  consists  simply  in  the 
final  closing  of  all  entries  in  proper  time  to  allow 
of  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the  placing  of 
the  articles  in  an  orderly  and  systematic  manner. 
Further :  It  has  appeared  to  me  that  a  longer 
time  than  is  ordinarily  given  is  required  to  bring 
fully  out  the  teaching-power  of  our  exhibitions. 
Live  stock  probably  could  not  be  kept  longer 
than  it  usually  is,  without  incurring  an  amount 
of  inconvenience,  risk  and  expense  that  might 
discourage  exhibitors.  But,  as  regards  mechan- 
ical, manuf^icturing  and  fine  arts  productions, 
and  those  of  the  farm  and  garden,  that  is,  with 
the  exception  only  of  animals,  the  same  reasons 
do  not  apply,  or,  at  least,  only  in  a  very  inferior 
degree,  Avhile  the  addition  of  only  one  or  two 
days  to  the  very  contracted  time  usually  allotted 
the  public  to  observe  these  departments,  would 
be  both  welcome  and  advantageous  to  all  visitors. 
I  have  often  thought  that  we  go  to  enormous 
trouble  and  expense  to  get  great  crowds  together 
for  a  day  or  two,  in  which  it  is  always  difficult,  and 


28 

somotimes  impossible,  for  individuals  desirous  of 
obtaining-  information,  to  inspect  the  articles  with 
any  dej^ree  of  care  or  comfort  The  suggestion 
which  I  have  ventured  to  make  would,  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  at  least,  .recufy  this  serious 
defect. 

It  has  often  occurred  to  me  that  there  is  a 
latent  power  of  good  in  local  agricultural  socie- 
ties that  would  be  of  great  public  benefit,  if  it 
were  properly  developed.  I  refer  to  the  advan- 
tages that  would  follow  the  more  frequent  meet- 
ing of  their  members,  for  the  consideration  and 
discussion  of  subjects  of  a  practical  or  scientific 
character.  Members  of  the  majority  of  township 
societies  are  commonly  satisfied,  I  believe,  with 
an  annual  fair,  and  meeting  for  the  yearly  trans- 
action of  business  and  election  of  officers.  Exhi- 
bitions are  very  useful  and  excellent  things,  but 
they  are  not  everything.  An  agricultural  society 
should  be,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  words,  "  a 
mutual  ijnprovemnit  society.''^  This  valuable  object 
is,  no  doubt,  largely  obtained  by  bringing  the 
results  of  industry  before  public  attention,  for 
inspection  ai.  competition.  Such  occasions 
awaken  thought  and  interest,  inspire  men  with 
higher  aims,  and  more  powerful  motives  to  im- 
provement.    Periodical  meetings  during  the   re- 


29 

mainder  of  the  year,  especially  the  comparatively 
leisure  season  to  fanners — the  winter — would 
more  effectually  sustain  and  direct  these  impulses 
into  fresh  and  practical  channels.  In  this  way 
the  alleged  sluggishness  of  the  agricultural  mind 
would  be  quickened,  practical  men  would  com- 
pare notes,  and  each  w^ould  inspirit  and  improve 
the  other  by  the  mutual  interchange  of  thought 
and  the  teachings  of  experience.  Thus  the  foun- 
dations of  agricultural  knowledge  would  become 
broader  and  deeper,  popular  fallacies  corrected,  a 
pleasing  social  interest  strengthened,  a  taste  for 
reading  and  observation  elicited,  and  the  prof- 
fered aids  of  science  with  increased  earnestness 
invoked.  I  am  not  aware  to  what  extent  "  Far- 
mers' Clubs,"  as  they  are  termed,  exist  in  this 
country; — the  one  in  the  city  of  New  York  has 
for  many  years  had  a  wide  reputation  ;  and  I  have 
felt  much  pleasure  and  derived  considerable  profit 
from  reading  tin  reports  of  meetings  for  discus- 
sion during  the  exhibition-week  of  your  Society, 
and  also  of  its  winter-meetings  in  Albany.  If 
the  smaller  societies  in  the  country  woula  gen- 
erally follow  out  this  principle,  a  fresh  and  most 
salutary  impulse  Avould  be  given  to  agriculture, 
and  young  men  engaged  in  the  pursuit  would 
take  a  greater  and  more  rational  interest  in  its 


30 

advancement,  and  better  prepare  themselves  for 
the  discharj^e  of  the  puljlic  duties  of  life.  Refer- 
ring!; to  youn";  men — how  is  it  that  so  manv  aban- 
don  the  rural  pursuits  of  their  fathers,  and  rush 
into  cities  and  towns,  to  intensify  the  already 
severe  competition  generally  existing  in  com- 
merce and  the  professions  ? 

There  are  doubtless  several  causes  which  con- 
spire to  produce  this  social  phenomenon;  the 
principal  I  believe  to  be,  what  has  already  been 
referred  to — the  false  and  low  estimate  commonly 
put  upon  farming  a3  a  pursuit.  It  is  yet  too 
much  regarded  as  a  monotonous  life  of  drudgery, 
naturally  inferior  in  social  status  to  the  more 
dazzling  occupations  of  city  life,  and  utterly  pow- 
erless as  a  means  of  acquiring  a  fortune.  Young 
men  of  ardent  imaginations  and  undisciplined 
minds  soon  become  dissatisfied  with  what  to  them 
is  one  dull  and  dreary  round  of  duty.  How  little 
is  done  in  many  country  homes,  to  make  them 
attractive  to  the  young,  and  often  still  less  on 
the  farm,  to  render  its  various  seasonal  opera- 
tions a  source  of  rational  interest  and  agreeable 
information!  Give  to  youth  such  an  education 
and  training  as  will  enable  them  to  comprehend 
and  appreciate  the  wonderful  phenomena  of  their 
daily  life,  and  they  will  soon  feel  convinced  that 


31 

agriculture  is  an  intellectual,  agreeable  and  dig- 
nified pursuit,  alike  favorable  to  health  of  body, 
and  strength  and  purity  of  mind.  Practical  farm- 
ing of  course  implies  a  certain  amount  of  manual 
labor,  but  this,  witliin  proper  bounds,  is  a  l)less- 
ing,  rather  than  a  curse.  Everybody  knows  that 
physical  exertion  of  some  kind  or  other  is  an 
essential  condition  of  bodily  healtli ;  and  the 
farmer  has  the  pleasure  and  advantage  of  labor- 
ing in  a  salubrious  atmosphere,  under  the  bhie 
vault  of  heaven,  surrounded  by  the  beauty  and 
charms  of  country  scenery.  Besides,  if  the 
farmer  has  at  particular  times  to  Aork  hard 
through  many  a  long  day,  we  must  not  suppose 
that  cit}^  life  is  one  of  peculiar  ease.  It  is,  prob- 
ably, on  the  whole,  a  harder  life  than  that  of  the 
country.  Men,  as  a  rule,  do  not  make  fortunes 
in  trade,  or  r'se  to  eminence  and  opulence  in  the 
professions,  without  powerful  and  continuous  ex- 
ertions of  the  mind,  and  sometimes,  too,  of  the 
body.  Multitudes  in  every  large  city  labor  hard 
day  by  day,  for  little  more  than  a  bare  subsist- 
ence, enjoying  but  few  intellectual  resources,  or 
the  amenities  of  social  life.  In  a  country  like 
yours,  where  class  distinctions  are  not  sharply 
drawn,  and  honest  labor  in  any  department  of 
industry  need  not  be  ashamed  to  raise  its  head, 


32 

Avlmt  Ji  pity  it  is  to  see  the  youth  Irom  the  coun- 
try, the  stren<;th  and  hope  of  tlie  State,  tlockin<^ 
into  the  cities  to  intensify,  as  I  have  already 
said,  the  competition  that  even  now  is,  in  many 
cases,  overdone.  As  to  the  making  of  a  fortune, 
if  by  this  is  meant  the  securing  of  a  competence 
after  an  honest,  industrious  business  life,  agricul- 
ture holds  out  inducements  generally,  when  in- 
telligently pursued,  equal  at  least  to  those  of 
commerce  or  the  professions.  It  may  be  a  some- 
what slower  way  of  making  money,  and  devoid 
of  the  few  dazzling  prizes  belonging  to  the  lot- 
tery of  trade,  but  its  gains,  if  smaller  and  slower, 
are  in  the  long  run  ^urer.  I  have  a  strong  mis- 
giving that  our  modern  systems  of  education, 
vastly  improved  and  enlarged  as  they  have  been 
of  late,  are  yet  in  some  important  things  much 
wanting;  and  that  they  indispose  our  youth  to 
enter  with  hearty  good  will  on  those  particular 
pursuits  which  necessarily  involve  the  perform- 
ance of  manual  labor — pursuits,  we  should  re- 
member, that  constitute  the  very  foundation  and 
framework  of  society.  Now,  this  ]3ernicious  ob- 
jection can  only  be  removed  by  enli^>;htening 
public  opinion  and  reforming  educational  sys- 
tems, so  that  youth  will  be  taught,  not  merely 
in  theory,  but   in  practice  also,  to  compreliend 


33 

and  appreciate  tlio  worth  and  dignity  of  la})or, 
Avhother  of  the  head  or  hands,  or,  what  shouhl 
always  be  the  case,  of  both  conjoined.  1  cannot 
regard  onr  position  as  farmers  to  be  hopeless,  as 
the  fact  is  trnly  enconraginii"  that  every  improve- 
ment made  in  agricultural  mechanics — and  such 
improvements  in  this  mechanical  age  are  great  j 
and  rapid — as  this  and  similar  exhibitions  tes- 
tify, necessarily  tends  to  diminish  the  severity 
and  monotony  of  manual  labor.  Ploughing,  for 
example,  with  our  modern  aud  improved  imple- 
ments, is  quite  a  different  thing  from  what  it  was 
with  the  heavy  and  ill-constructed  ones  of  thirty 
or  forty  years  ago ;  and  the  threshing,  reaping 
and  mowing  machines,  in  the  perfection  to  which 
they  have  already  been  brought,  reduce  human 
labor,  as  it  were,  to  a  minimum,  and  in  great 
measure  relieve  the  husbandman  of  some  of  the 
hitherto  most  laborious  of  his  operations. 

The  agricultural  world  seems  certainly,  if  not 
rapidly,  adopting  a  new  power  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  soil,  nnd  for  diminishing  manual  and  ani- 
mal labor,  that  will  form  a  new  and  striking 
epoch  in  the  history  of  the  art.  I  refer  to  the 
application  of  steam  to  fjirm  work.  The  steam 
plough  has  already  obtained  a  firm  footing  in  the 
British  Islands,  and  several  European  countrius, 


34 

in  Kijjyiit  .and  Fndia,  in  Anstralia  and  New  Zea- 
land. From  what  I  saw  last  year  of  its  working 
both  in  Enj^land  and  Scotland,  and  the  severe 
and  extensive  trials  to  which  it  was  subjected  at 
the  Koyal  Show  at  Leicester, the  few  misgivings 
I  might  have  had  relative  to  its  practical  and  ex- 
tensive adaptation  were  certainly  removed.  Not 
only  is  steam  culture  cheaper  than  horse,  but  it 
can  be  made  deeper  and  more  thorough  than  it  is 
possible  to  do  by  the  ordinary  methods.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  age  of  the  plough,  the  old 
characteristic  sym1)ol  of  husbandry,  is  gradually 
drawing  to  a  close,  and  that  this  ancient  imple- 
ment will  be  superseded  by  the  cultivator  or 
grubber.  Without  endorsing  this  opinion  in  its 
entirety,  there  is  no  doubt  some  reason  in  its 
favor.  For  many  purposes,  and  in  particular 
conditions  of  the  soil,  the  action  of  the  grubber 
is  far  more  advantageous  than  that  of  the  plough, 
as  a  more  perfect  disintegration  and  commingling 
of  the  whole  mass  is  thereby  effected  ;  and  there 
seems  a  growing  tendency  in  an  advancing  agri- 
culture to  produce  this  thoroughly  breaking  up 
and  mixing  the  soil  in  preference  to  the  simply 
turning  of  it  over,  as  is  done  in  ordinary  plough- 
ing. There  is,  besides,  an  increasing  conviction 
among  those  that  have  adopted  steam  cultivation 


a6 

that  better  crops  are  therebj^  proilueeJ ;  and 
from  the  opportunities  1  have  had  for  observation 
on  this  matter,  I  am  constrained  to  airree  with 
the  concdusion.  I  conld  not  help  remarking;  hist 
snmnier  on  the  farms  of  the  Messrs.  Howard,  of 
Bedford,  the  renowned  agricultural  implement 
makers,  as  also  in  other  parts  of  Eni'land,  that 
the  growing  crops  appeared  more  luxuriant  and 
promising  where  steam  culture  had  been  adopted, 
all  other  conditions,  soil,  manure,  &c.,  being  ap- 
parently equal,  than  when,  sometimes  in  the 
same  field,  what  was  considered  good  horse-power 
cultivation  had  been  practiced.  The  difference 
in  favor  of  the  former  was  explained  by  the  facts, 
that  steam  power  effects  a  deeper,  more  thorough 
and  uniform  moving  and  intermixing  of  the  soil, 
without  subjecting  it  to  the  tramping  of  horses, 
which  in  wet  weather  and  on  heavy  land,  every 
practical  man  knows  is  very  detrimental.  The 
steam  plough  has,  as  yet,  been  only  introduced 
for  experimental  purposes,  1  believe,  in  this 
country.  Various  causes  have  combined  hitherto 
to  prevent  its  general  introduction. 

Notwithstanding,  I  feel  it  is  a  moral  certainty 
that  on  this  continent,  particularly  on  the  im- 
mense prairies  of  the  great  West,  the  steam 
plough  will  one  day  achieve  its  i:)roudest  triumplis. 


36 

TIio  richest  soils,  after  the  exliaustivo  cropping 
to  which  they  are  coiiimonly  suhjcctcd,  will 
require  deeper  and  more  perfect  cultivation  in 
order  to  sustain  their  wonted  fertility,  and  there 
can,  I  think,  he  little  douht  that  in,  it  inav^  he  a 
few  years,  these  improved  modern  a})plianc*;s 
will  renovate  many  of  your  already  deteriorateu 
soils,  and  impart  a  fresh  im2)etus  and  give  a  new 
and  much  improved  character  to  American  agri- 
culture. 

In  a  new  and  extensive  country,  possessing 
various  degrees  of  natural  fertilitv,  where  the 
price  of  lahor  is  high,  and  that  of  produce  com- 
paratively low,  the  farmer  is  strongly  tempted  to 
adopt  a  system  of  tillage  that  will  surely, 
although  at  first  almost  imperceptibly,  diminish 
the  productive  power  of  the  soil.  This  gradual 
deterioration  is  sometimes  allowed  to  proceed  to 
such  an  extent  that  cultivation  ceases  to  be  pro- 
fitable, and  the  land  may  be  abandoned  and  re- 
vert back  to  its  original  wild  condition.  In  an 
immense  continent  like  this  of  North  America, 
where  there  are  yet  many  millions  of  acres  of 
untouched  virgin  soil  of  great  natural  productive- 
ness, it  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  the  adop- 
tion of  systems  of  culture  which  have  long  been 
profitably   practiced    in  the  older,    smaller,    and 


more  populous  countries  of  the  Eastern  lieniis- 
pliere.  Still  it  must  he  oljvious,  on  a  little  retlec- 
tion,  that  even  in  America  some  limit  will  have 
to  he  put  to  th(^  operation  of  this  priiu'iple  (;f 
deterioration,  or  the  period  will  he  reached  when 
farming  will  cease  to  he  i-cmuiierative,  (jr  the 
land  to  yield  sullieieut  Ioo;l  to  meet  the  «!;rowing 
wants  of  a  rapidly  increasing  i)()pulation.  The 
great  proldem  to  he  solved  hy  the  American 
farmer  is  how  hest  to  sustain  the  e({uilihrium  he- 
tween  waste  and  supply.  Every  crop  he  raises 
abstracts  from  tlie  soil  a  certain  amount  of  min- 
eral ingredients,  constituting  the  essential  food 
of  plants.  If  this  waste  be  suffered  to  go  on 
without  repair,  the  ultimate  result  will  surely 
be  sooner  or  later  reached,  the  exhaustion  of  the 
soil;  or,  in  other  words,  a  soil  so  weakened  by 
over-cropping  and  non-manuring  that  its  cultiva- 
tion ceases  to  be  prolitable.  Anudst  the  too 
general  tendency  of  diminished  productiveness, 
it  is  encoura<;ing  to  be  assured  that  in  most 
instances  exhaustion  of  the  soil  is  relative  rather 
than  absolute.  A  farm  absolidelij  exhausted,  that 
is,  the  tillable  soil  deprived  of  all,  or  nearly  all, 
the  ingredients  necessary  to  feed  healthy  crops, 
would,  in  a  country  where  land  is  plentiful  and 
cheap,  he  dear  as  a  gilt,  unless  it  possessed  some 


38 

intrinsic  value  arising  from  situation,  or  other 
local  circumstances.  It  is  commonly  found  that 
what  is  termed  exhausted,  or  worn  out  land,  is 
only  in  that  condition  a  few  inches  deep,  such 
soils  having  usually  been  cultivated  in  a  shallow, 
and  imperfect  manner ;  and  below  the  four  or  five 
inches  to  which  the  plough  has  penetrated,  there 
is  frequently  locked  up  a  considerable  store  of 
plant-food.  In  such  cases  deeper  cultivation, 
and  a  more  intimate  mixing  of  the  soil  will  some- 
times, witliout  extra  appliances,  restore  its  lost 
fertilit}^  Cultivation,  of  course,  does  not  create 
matter,  but  simplj'  changes  its  mechanical  and 
chemical  condition.  It  frequently  happens  that 
soils  considered  infertile  contain  a  sufficient 
amount  of  plant-food  in  a  dormant  state,  and  all 
that  is  required  to  bring  it  into  a  condition  to 
enter  into  the  circulation  of  growing  crops  is  to 
admit  freely  air,  warmth  and  moisture  by  means 
of  deeper  cultivation. 

There  are,  how^ever,  too  many  instances  of 
land  being  w^orn  out  by  over-cropping,  that  deep- 
er tillage  alone  will  not  be  found  sufficient,  but 
extra  substances  must  be  applied  to  the  soil  be- 
fore its  lost  productiveness  can  be  restored,  hence 
the  necessit}^  and  value  of  what  are  termed  ma- 
nures.    It   is  in    this    department  of  husbandry 


39 

that  modern  chemistry  has  rendered  the  greatest 
service,  not  merely  by  analyzing  the  products 
yielded  by  the  decomposition  of  plants,  and 
therefore  defining  the  nature  and  relative  amounts 
of  the  various  constituents  of  their  food,  but  also 
by  so  treating  a  number  of  substances  which  oth- 
erwise would  remain  useless,  or  positively  inju- 
rious, as  to  work  them  up  into  special  manures 
adapted  to  the  requirements  of  particular  crops. 
In  Europe  the  manufacture  of  artificial  manures, 
as  they  are  termed,  has  for  some  time  assumed 
gigantic  proportions  ;  and  it  is  encouraging  to  find 
that  in  several  of  the  larger  cities  of  this  Conti- 
nent, similar  manufactures  have  already  made  a 
successful  commencement.  Many  English  farm- 
ers annually  expend  as  much  money  in  purchas- 
ing artificial  manures  and  cattle  food,  as  the 
amounts  of  their  respective  rents.  This,  with  a 
thorough  and  clean  system  of  cultivation,  will 
account  for  their  high  average  produce  ;  fifty  or 
sixty  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  being  now  grown 
on  land  which  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  only 
produced  twenty-five  or  thirty.  AYe  sometimes 
read  with  feelings  bordering  on  incredulity,  of  j 
the  enormously  large  crops  raised  under  the  sys- 
tem designated  "  high  farming  ^  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  in  a  country  like  England,  an  ex- 


penditure  that  ap])ears  to  us  enormous,  if  not 
Utopian,  is,  when  directed  by  sound  judgment 
and  experience,  productive  of  a  maximum  profit. 
It  has  been  said  "  that  the  soil  is  always  grateful, 
but  it  will  have  sOiiiething  to  be  grateful  for." 
Tenant-farmer^  in  Britain  may  generally  be  said 
to  have  a  working  capital  of  from  eight  to  ten 
pounds  sterling  per  acre,  the  amount  depending 
greatly  on  the  system  pursued.  I  was  told  last 
year,  by  an  English  tenant-fiirmer  pursuing  the 
mixed  husbandry,  tliat  he  had  sixteeri  pounds  an 
acre,  and  he  felt  confident  that  his  business  could 
be  made  more  profitable  by  increasing  his  cap- 
ital. Yet,  even  in  England,  one  constantly  hears 
the  complaint  that  too  little  capital  is  invested 
in  the  management  of  land,  and  practical  men 
generally  endorse  the  sentiment.  Certainly  on 
this  side  the  Atlantic  our  farming  capital  gener- 
ally is  miserably  deficient,  and  farmers,  as  a  rule, 
could  make  no  investment  of  their  savings  so  safe 
and  profitable,  as  to  use  them  for  the  further  de- 
velopment of  their  own  freeholds. 

We  must  be  careful,  however,  in  drawing 
practical  conclusions  from  analogical  reasoning 
founded  on  the  conditions  and  practices  of  British 
agriculture,  as  applying  to  our  own,  under  dift\^r- 
ent  circumstances.     What  might   pay  well  to  do 


41 

in  England,  might,  if  attempted  in  the  same  man- 
ner, entail  an  actual  loss  in  this  country.  True, 
the  principles  of  agriculture  are  the  same  all  over 
the  world,  but  it  requires  both  ciuition  and  local 
experience  in  properly  modifying  their  applica- 
tion to  meet  the  varying  conditions  of  soil,  cli- 
mate, and  markets.  In  old  populous  countries, 
where  land  is  high  in  price  and  in  constant  de- 
mand, it  may  pay  well  to  incur  a  very  heavy 
expenditure  in  restoring  absolutely  exhausted 
farms;  but  in  America,  where  laud  is  plentiful 
and  cheap,  and  the  jippliances  for  restoring  a  lost 
fertility,  scarce  and  dear  the  operation  would 
likely  prove  a  heavy  loss,  the  market  value  of 
the  improvements  tailing  below  their  cost. 

There  is  an  old  adage  of  a  very  wide  applica- 
tion, which  comprises  the  case  under  considera- 
tion :  "  An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound 
.  of  cure."  It  is  certainly  much  cheaper,  and  in 
some  respects  even  easier,  to  keep  the  soil  in 
good  heart,  when  we  have  it  in  that  condition, 
than  to  suffer  its  productiveness  to  decline,  and 
restore  it  afterwards.  This,  no  doubt,  would  be 
the  practical  sentiment  of  farmers  generally,  if 
they  took  a  broad  and  prospective  view  of  the 
case,  and  felt  a  permanent  interest  in  the  land.  But 
it  has  been  too  much  the  fashion  to  look  too  ex- 


42 

cliisively  for  immediate  results,  and  to  adopt  a  sys- 
tem of  management  which,  while  it  enriched  the 
fathers,  must  inevitably  impoverish  the  sons.  The 
vast  fertile  and  unoccupied  areas  of  the  Westj 
yielding  for  a  while  bountiful  crops  with  little 
care  and  expenditure,  have,  doubtless,  tended  to 
retard  the  healthy  development  of  agriculture  in 
the  Eastern  and  Central  Stales,  and  this  cause 
will  continue  to  be  felt,  more  or  less,  till  tha,t 
immense  region, — of  the  extent  and  resources  of 
which  we  are  beginning  now  to  form  some  defi- 
nite conception, — becomes  peopled  with  an  indus- 
trious and  thriving  population.  When  that  period 
shall  have  arriv(;d,  and  the  progress  is  assuming 
immense  rapidity  and  proportions,  the  motives 
to  exhaust  land  here,  remove  and  commence  a 
similar  operation  on  new  and  fertile  soils  there, 
will  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  American 
agriculture,  as  a  whole,  will  assume  a  high  and 
homogeneous  character,  ultimately  working  out 
for  itself  a  position,  whether  for  magnitude  or 
excellence,  that  will  be  unsurpassed  by  any  por- 
tion of  the  habitable  world. 

From  a  pretty  intimate  acquaintance  which  I 
may  be  supposed  to  have  of  Canadian  agricul- 
ture, which  in  its  leading  features  must  resemble, 
more  or  less,  that  of  these  Northern  States,  there 


43 

are  a  few  important  points  on  which  I  am  accus- 
tomed to  insist,  and  Avhich  may  not  be  devoid  ot 
some  interest  and  relevancy  on  this  side  of  the 
lines.  I  say  to  our  people,  cultivate  less,  and  culti- 
vate better.  It  is  the  slovenly  .and  superficial  cul- 
ture, so  widely  practiced,  that  keeps  the  average 
of  our  crops  so  low.  Really,  when  we  consider 
how  little  the  soil  receives,  and  how  much  is 
taken  from  it,  the  wonder  is,  not  that  it  produces 
so  little  per  acre,  but  that  it  grows  so  much.  I 
feel  morally  certain  that  much  of  the  land  in  the 
old  world,  if  it  received  no  better  treatment  than 
we  are  accustomed  to  give  ours,  would  be  inferior 
in  production  even  to  our  own.  Cultivating 
less,  does  not  necessarily  imply  growing  less. 
Every  practical  man  knows  full  well  that  one 
acre  of  land  properly  prepared  for  a  given  crop, 
will  produce  as  much  as  double  the  quantity 
imperfectly  and  negligently  prepared.  If,  there- 
fore, by  adopting  an  improved  system  of  hus- 
bandry suited  to  our  specific  wants,  we  can  pro- 
duce as  much  grain,  roots,  etc.,  from  a  less 
surface,  the  remainder  can  be  made  profitable  in 
another  way,  that  is,  in  pasture,  whereby  we 
give  the  land  "  rest,"  and  enable  it  to  sustain  a 
larger  number  of  live  stock.  Between  "corn 
and  horn,"  to  use  an  old  phrase,  there  is  an  inti- 


~       44 

mate  connection  .and  a  mutual  dependence.  By 
keeping  more  stock  of  improved  and  suitable 
breeds,  we  get  birger  and  quicker  money  returns, 
make  more  manure,  wbicb  is  the  farmer's  sheet 
anchor,  after  he  has  diminished  the  often  great 
natural  fertility  of  his  virgin  soil. 

I  can  see  no  other  method,  alike  practicable 
and  profitable,  of  restoring  and  sustaining  the 
fertility  of  the  soil.  As  the  population  of  the 
country  increases,  particularly  in  the  great  cen- 
tres of  manufacturing  and  commercial  industry, 
the  demand  for  food  of  improved  quality  propor- 
tionately increases.  Prices  advance  for  grain 
and  meat,  and  a  fresh  impetus  is  given  to  both 
departments.  The  more  cattle  and  sheep  the 
farmer  keeps,  the  more  grain  he  grows,  as  ani- 
mals are  the  manufacturers  of  manure,  that  is, 
the  food  of  crops.  And  here  let  us  pause  a  mo- 
ment, and  reflect  on  the  lamentable  waste  o^- 
productive  power,  arising  from  the  most  culpable 
neglect  of  the  precious  article  of  farm-yard  ma- 
nure. I  don't  exactly  know  how  this  matter 
stands  with  you  on  this  side  the  boundarv,  but  I 
never  meet  a  body  of  our  farmers  without  remind- 
ing them  of  the  fact,  that  from  unneces>Jiry  ex- 
posure, barn -yard  manure  is  frequently  reduced 
in  value  forty  or  fifty  per  cent;  a  loss  that  might 


45 

generally  be  prevented  by  the  exercise  of  a  little 
forethought  and  care,  involving  no  heavy  pecun- 
iary expenditure.  In  old-settled  sections  such 
waste  is  unpardonable,  and  would  be  considered 
inhuman,  if  plants  were  regarded  as  possessing  a 
sensitive  organization.  I  can  remember  when 
this  kind  of  manure  was  simihirly  neglected  in 
the  more  backward  districts  of  England,  and  felt 
puzzled  to  determine  which  inflicted  the  greater 
evil  on  his  country,  the  tenant-farmer  who  neg- 
lected his  manure  to  develop  his  crops,  or  the 
game-preserving  landlord,  who  caused  them  to 
be  eaten  up.  The  possession  of  land  is  a  sacred 
trust,  and  society  sanctions  by  law  the  right  of 
private  ownership  on  the  understood  condition 
that  it  be  used  in  such  a  manner  as  to  confer  the 
greatest  benefit,  not  merely  on  the  individual 
owner  or  occupier,  but  on  the  community  at 
large. 

Among  the  most  efficient  means  of  agricultural 
improvement  in  the  temperate  zone,  at  least,  is 
Draining,  an  artifice  that  has  been  attended  by 
the  most  beneficial  results,  particularly  on  wet 
and  heavy  soils.  I  will  say  a  few  words  both  of 
caution  and  encouragement  on  this  subject.  I 
have  found  newly  arrived  settlers  in  the  newer 
parts  of  Canada,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  the 


46 

use  of  draining  tools,  quite  cast  clown  in  spirits, 
because  they  found  themselves  unable  to  carry 
out  in  practice  the  refined,  elaborate,  and  expen- 
sive systems  of  draining  to  which  they  had  been 
accustomed  in  the  parent  country.  The  difficulty 
in  some  instances  of  getting  a  sufficient  outfall, 
and  no  draining  tools,  or  pipes  being  accessible, 
the  operation  was  looked  upon  with  feelings  bor- 
dering on  despair.  I  have  spoken  words  of  en- 
couragement to  such  people,  and  shown  them 
how  they  might  make  a  commencement,  at  least, 
with  success.  In  a  new  country  especially,  we 
must  be  guided  in  the  character  and  extent  of 
our  operations  by  the  main  physical  conditions 
of  the  surface  ;  in  other  words,  aid  and  improve 
nature's  drainage.  The  clearin<!j  out  of  streams 
and  creeks  where  they  are  obstructed  by  mud, 
fallen  trees,  and  aquatic  plants,  is  the  first  lesson 
to  learn  in  prai  al  draining.  In  this  way  an 
outfall  can  be  gei  orally  obtained ;  but  in  very 
level  districts  to  accomplish  this  primary  and  es- 
sential object,  the  co-operation  of  several  owners 
of  land,  through  considerable  distances,  is  some- 
times necessary.  Few  can  fully  understand, 
apart  from  personal  experience  or  observation, 
what  an  advantage  it  is  to  improve  the  natural 
water  channels  of  a  wet  and  level  district.     This 


47 

preliminary  being  accomplished,  the  making  of 
open  or  covered  drains,  as  circumstances  require, 
may  be  advantageously  proceeded  with.  In  the 
older  cultivated  districts  of  this  country  the 
more  thorough  and  refined  British  systems  of 
draining  may  be  profitably  followed,  subjected  to 
such  modifications  as  diff*erences  in  soil  and  cli- 
mate naturally  suggest.  In  a  new  country,  how- 
ever, draining  must  be,  as  a  rule,  differently  com- 
menced and  executed,  to  what  can  be  done  in 
such  as  are  older  and  wealthier.  A  ditch  dug 
out  as  narrow  at  the  bottom  as  the  tool  will 
allow,  and  partly  filled  with  old  rails  or  the 
boughs  of  trees,  closely  trodden  down  with  a  por- 
tion of  the  moved  earth,  wdll  often  answer  an 
excellent  purpose  for  several  years.  I  observed 
in  England  last  summer  a  few  drains  in  a  field 
two  or  three  of  which  had  not  wholly  lost  their 
functions,  which  I  assisted  in  making  when  a  boy., 
near  half  a  century  ago.  The  land  is  in  perma- 
nent pasture,  exceedingly  tenacious,  the  drains 
were  dug  three  feet  deep  (considered  in  those 
days  "deep  draining"),  and  the  width  gradually 
diminishing  to  about  two  inches  at  the  bottom, 
in  which  was  placed  heath  (heather)  and  the  soil 
returned  thereon,  closely  tramped  down.  The 
durability  of  such  draining  in   clay  soils,  when 


48 

caroruUy  executed,  and  with  which  cultivation 
or  wild  animals  do  not  interfere,  is  almost  incred  • 
ible.  I  mention  these  facts  to  encourage  settlers 
in  new  districts  to  commence  and  persevere  in 
the  prosecution  of  such  an  efficient  method  of 
agricultural  and  sanitary  improvement.  The 
ditching  plough,  which  has  recently  received  im- 
portant structural  modifications,  promises  to 
become  a  very  valuable  implement  in  cheapening 
and  extending  draining  processes.  Before,  how- 
ever, dismissing  this  subject  it  is  important  to 
observe  that  the  cheap  system  of  draining  (if 
what  has  been  suggested  can  be  so  designated)  is 
intended  simply  as  introductory  and  provisional, 
as  the  best  suited  to  thew^ants  and  circumstances 
of  new  settlers.  There  is  no  other  agricultural 
operation  that  calls  for  the  exercise  of  more 
judgment  and  care ;  and  when  means  and  appli- 
ances admit,  no  reasonable  amount  of  expense 
should  be  spared  in  making  the  work  as  effective 
and  permanent  as  possible. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  again  very  briefly 
adverting  to  the  immense  progress  made  of  late 
years  by  the  exhibitions  of  this  Society,  and  the 
improvements  in  agriculture  and  other  industrial 
arts  that  must  have  resulted  therefrom.  From  a 
humble    commencement,  not    much    more,  1  be- 


id 

lieve,  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  the  course 
of  this  Society  has  been  constantly  onward,  and 
its  intluence  for  good  has  been  widely  felt,  not 
only  in  this  and  neighl)oring  States,  but  through- 
out the  Union  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 
Indeed  its  fame  has  extended  to  every  country  of 
the  civilized  world.  Its  contributions  to  our 
common  agricultural  literature,  the  researches  it 
has  instituted  into  the  nature  and  treatment  of 
new  and  mysterious  forms  of  disease  of  a  most 
malignant  character  among  the  domesticated 
animals,  and  the  thorough,  systematic  trials  of 
farm  implements  and  machines  which  it  has  on 
several  public  occasions  made,  impart  to  your  So- 
ciety a  very  high  character  for  energy  and 
usefulness. 

What  a  magnificent  theatre  does  this  great 
country  present  for  the  working  out  of  the  en- 
lightenment, freedom  and  happiness  of  our  com- 
mon humanity  ?  Extending  east  and  west  from 
one  ocean  to  another,  and  from  the  great  lakes 
in  the  north  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico  in  the  south, 
comprising  almost  every  climate,  traversed  by 
rivers  of  unrivaled  magnitude,  and  richly  en- 
dowed by  nature  with  the  means  of  agricultural, 
manufacturing  and  mineral  wealth,  it  offers  homes 
of  plenty  and  comfort  to  the  many  thousands  of 


.■)0 

the    sons   of   toil    wlio   Mnniiiilly  land    upon    its 
shores.     I  well  remember,  now  more  than  half  a 
century  ago,  a  mechanic  with  his  family  emigrat- 
ing from  my  little  picturesque  native  village  in 
the  south  of  England,  to  the  western   portion  of 
the    State    of   Illinois,  which    at    that    i\i\y  was 
regarded  as  the  "far  west."     It   took  him   more 
time   and   trouble  to  get  from  New  York  to  his 
destination  than  the  whole  ocean  voyage,  which 
at  that  period  was  a  much  more  formidable  under- 
taking   than    it   is    now.     How    stupendous   the 
changes  in  the  means  of  locomotion,  as  in  many 
other  things  since  then,  supplied  by  the  steam- 
boat and  the  railroad,  the  latter  now  connecting 
the  Atlantic  with  the  Pacific!     These  are  truly 
marvelous  changes  occurring  within  living  mem- 
ory, and   their   benefits,  with   yet   still  further 
developments,  will  be  transmitted  from  sire  to 
son,  through  all  future  generations. 

It  is  now  upwards  of  twenty  years  since  I 
first  had  the  pleasure  of  attending  the  New  York 
State  Agricultural  Show,  and  I  have  observed 
with  much  gratification  and  benefit  the  astonish- 
ing progress  you  have  made.  Many  of  the  earlier  . 
members  of  this  Society,  who  took  a  prominent 
part  in  its  management,  among  whom  I  had  the 
honor    of   including   several    esteemed    personal 


51 

friends,  have  been  removed  from  this  earthly 
scene.  And  I  cannot  allow  the  i)resent  opportu- 
nity to  pass,  without  expressing  my  deepest  sym- 
pathy with  the  members  of  this  Society,  for  the 
recent  loss  of  its  late  veneral^le,  respected,  and 
most  efficient  Secretary.  Col.  Johnson  was  no 
ordinary  man,  and  he  was  known  and  esteemed 
far  beyond  the  Society,  which  he  so  long  and 
honorably  served.  He  certainly  had  a  British^  if 
not  a  European  reputation,  and  we,  over  in  Can- 
ada, were  accustomed  to  look  upon  him  as  one  of 
ourselves.  In  common  with  you,  we  mourn  his 
loss ;  mnny  of  his  acts  of  kindly  and  courteous 
attention  will  be  long  and  gratefully  remembered 
by  not  a  few  of  the  members  of  our  "  Provincial 
Association ;"  and  now,  that  so  good  and  true  a 
man,  full  of  years  and  honors,  has  been  taken 
from  us  by  the  relentless  hand  of  death,  all  I 
will  liirther  say  is,  what  I  am  sure  will  honestly 
express  the  most  sacred  feelings  of  all  your 
hearts  :  "  Requiescat  in  pace."" 

Only  another  word,  and  I  have  done.  We 
meet  on  this  occasion  to  promote  the  arts  of 
peace  and  good  will,  the  wealth,  intelligence  and 
happiness  of  Nations.  As  a  British  Canadian,  I 
\N^ish  to  express  to  you,  and  through  you  to  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  generally,  the  cor- 


ry2     .      .r 

dial  feeling  of  my  people  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Lakes,  not  only  towards  this  Society,  but  for  the 
peace  and  prosperity  of  your  common  country. 
We  live,  it  is  true,  under  different  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, but  we  speak  a  common  language,  and 
are  proud  of  a  common  ancestry  ;  and  in  fact  we 
have  so  much  in  common  that  we  regard  as  good 
and  j)erraanent,  as  will,  I  most  devoutly  trust, 
under  the  guidance  and  blessing  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, lead  to  earnest  and  harmonious  action  in 
promoting  the  material  development  of  our  res- 
pective soils,  and  the  peace,  liberty,  and  happi- 
ness of  the  toiling  millions  of  this  vast  Continent. 


